The Billionaire's Second Chance by Peyton Reeser Page A

of her shopping list.  It was amusing to see such mundane and everyday items as dish soap, creamer, and a dozen eggs.
    On the other side of the sink sat a beautiful potted hibiscus flower with delicate white tinged purple leaves which was in full bloom. The vibrant splash of tropical color against the muted earth tones and dark wood throughout the house touched his heart. It struck him that the flower was just like Shannon in his life; a touch of color in an otherwise bland and neutral existence. With his throat suddenly tight ened by emotion, Nick moved swiftly to the refrigerator to grab the water which he now desperately needed.
    After grabbing a bottle and taking a quick swig to relive the choking dryness in his throat brought on by a flood of emotions he hadn’t seen coming, Nick hurried back into the living room to hand Shannon the refreshing cool water. Like him, she immediately ripped off the cap and took a long pull of the ice cold fluid.
    Not quite knowing what to do but deciding that something was better than nothing, Nick moved over to a chair situated next to the sofa where Shannon rested silently. Sitting down and still drinking from his water bottle Nick surveyed her with intense interest. She seemed relaxed and though everyone was calm he knew that the time was fast approaching for them to speak beyond generalities and inquiries in to her condition.
    Shannon beat him to it of course because after all, as a woman, it was her prerogative to shake things up and do the unexpected.
    “After the way we parted I never imagined that one day you and I would quite literally stumble upon one another ever again. I’ve known your sister Jules for several years and honestly until this afternoon, I never made the connection. She talked about her brother, but usually in abstract terms, and mostly we talked about Dominic and our work together.”
    “Well it’s good to know we can both be surprised” Nick said with a self-deprecating laugh. “Honestly, Shannon, I’ve never been so flummoxed in my whole life, and yes I did just use the word flummoxed in a sentence.”
    She had to laugh at that even though she knew softening her attitude towards him even an iota was inviting danger, but the simple truth was this was the Nick she remembered. Clever, quick witted, funny.  Oh yeah, and seriously good-looking and very, very good for her ego because he watched her with a searing intensity that rocketed happiness to her soul. That much it seemed had not changed for regardless of how they parted he was still the only human being who had ever seen so effortlessly into her most secret thoughts and desires.
    It was as if he could read her every word and thought, and while this should probably bother her she knew that instead she found the connection, unbroken by time and circumstances, deeply, deeply moving.
    “Shannon, why don’t we acknowledge the elephant in the room.” he queried softly. “I can see by the look o n your face and the way you’d obviously like me to jump off a cliff that you are none too pleased that we have, in fact, run into each other.”
    Turning his body towards her so that they were less than a foot apart he continued, “What I say next is more important than anything that came before, and hopefully you’ll hear what I’m trying to say even through a well-deserved case of suspicion”
    That last comment certainly got her eyes flying directly to his, which was what he wanted, and once he had her firmly in his view with all the sincerity that he could muster, something which was right on the edge of a cry from his soul, he simply looked into her eyes and said, “What I did was wrong. The words I said to you were not how I truly felt. None of what took place after I’d been called back to New York was right. It was all wrong. Everything.  Every stupid word in that wretched note I left for you. I was a complete coward for having done that by the way. And every heartless thing which came out of my